Toyota and Honda are losing loyal owners to rival brands that are further ahead in the electric vehicle transition, including Tesla, Ford and Hyundai and Chevrolet, according to a new report from S&P Global Mobility.
"Early S&P Global Mobility data suggests consumers moving to electric vehicles in 2022 are largely doing so from Toyota and Honda — brands which have been unable to keep their internal combustion owners loyal until their own brands begin to participate more significantly in the EV transition," the data firm said Tuesday.
Sales of Toyota's mass-market EV, the bZ4x crossover, were stopped for months shortly after its launch earlier this year due to a risk that its wheels could fall off. Honda discontinued its Clarity EV in 2020 after offering the sedan, with 89 miles of range, as lease-only in California and Oregon. Honda's coming Prologue EV crossover is expected in 2024.
Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. executives have said they are accelerating EV projects after waiting for the market to mature, with Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda showing 16 future Lexus and Toyota battery electric vehicles to journalists nearly a year ago to prove the point.
EV share in the U.S. has more than doubled to 5.2 percent in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, S&P Global said, citing registration data.
And battery-electric vehicle share in California — a traditional stronghold for Toyota and Honda — reached 16 percent through the third quarter of 2022, according to Experian. Toyota held its No. 1 spot in California so far this year, but newcomer Tesla was No. 2, Ford was No. 3 and Honda was No. 4, registration data shows.